Sparkling Streaks- First impression was that it was space debris entering- What was unusual was that there seemed to be a formation of three

On or about sept 1,1999,I saw three non mechanical sparkling streaks on the eastern about 20 degrees from the surface traveling from north to south. They were just below the constellation Caseopia. They traveled on a slight angle toward Earth. My first thought was that I was seeing space debris entering the atmosphere. But then I realized that they appeared to be in a formation similar to that of flying birds.